FULL LYDIA Oratorio & Symphony d-minor (Kim Hong-jeon) Seoul 2024 Hyun-joo, Lee A-kyung,Park Sung-geun, Han Gyu-won
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Lydia Oratorio, Symphony d-minor
- Composer: Hong-jeon Kim
- Libretto: based on the Book of Ruth from the Bible
- Venue & Opera Company: Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul, South Korea
- Recorded: September 12, 2024
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Hyun-joo, Lee A-kyung, Park Sung-geun, Han Gyu-won
- Conductor: Kim Kyung-hee
- Orchestra: Millennium Symphony Orchestra
- Chorus: Winner Opera Choir
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: TomatoClassic
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Program
Kim Hong-jeon: Oratorio [Lydia]
Kim Hong-jeon: Symphony d-minor (1942)
The oratorio ‘ Lydia ‘ by the late Rev. Hong-Jeon Kim (1914-2003), a renowned Korean theologian and composer, will be premiered in Korea following its premiere in the Americas . Rev. Hong-Jeon Kim is the author of a total of 86 theological books, and as of 2016 , a total of 650,000 copies of his theological books have been sold .
He studied composition and piano in Pyongyang in 1935 from Dwight R. Malsbary, the first American Northern Presbyterian music missionary in Korea. He began to focus on composition in earnest in 1933 , and composed a whopping 181 hymns by 1981 .
The oratorio ‘ Lydia ‘ is based on the Book of Ruth from the Bible, and the period from 1942 to 1944 when this work was written was a dark time under Japanese colonial rule .
Pastor Hong-Jeon Kim, whose life was threatened at the time for not visiting the Shinto shrine, refused to compromise with the world and devoted himself to composing music .
This work deals with the story of three women, Naomi , Orpah , and Ruth , who appear in the Book of Ruth. The name ‘ Lydia ‘ is the Korean pronunciation of ‘Ruthia’, a nickname for Ruth’s English name . Naomi, who depended on the world and left in pursuit of vain things , but did not remain in that despair but turned her heart and tried to return to God, and through the journey of Naomi and Ruth, it contains a message about the blessings given to those who turn to God .